Illuminating letters: behind the scenes

Four of my favourite ways to make a zine with a single sheet of paper

Dear reader,

I’ve written before about making my comics as both a digital version (the one you get in this newsletter) and a physical zine.

I set myself a two rules for those physical copies:

1. Each zine must be printable on a single sheet of A3 paper (limits scale and cost)

2. I can make a limited print run of each, so I can print on nice paper, but I have to sell the rest, with all profits going to charity (so my work has a tiny positive impact)

I’ve made 12 of these zines, so I’ve had to get creative with how I make them to fit with a whole range of different kinds of story. So I wanted to breakdown some of my favourite ways to turn a single sheet of A3 a zine.

Fold out poster

This is the classic single page zine format, it makes an 8 page booklet with a fold out poster in the middle all without the need for staples.

Examples include: London from the Slow Lane which folds out to a map of all of London’s best pools, and Formula 1 2024

Theatrical opening

I refer to this one as the theatrical zine because the pages open like double doors. This zine doubles in size with every set of pages you open. Like the fold out zine you get 8 pages and a full poster at the end.

Examples include: Prints of Poyais which tells the story of history’s most audacious con, and What is a Service Designer? which was my attempt at breaking down the job I’ve done for almost a decade

Accordion

I love this format for anything where you’ve got a journey or a series of images that need to work together in a long line because the accordion allows for individual pages and a panoramic view. It gives you 14 pages with a separate cover and back page.

Examples include: Autumn Glow and a Walk along the New River, both of which take you on some of my favourite strolls

Classic booklet

I make booklet zines using a single piece of A3, but I understand it’s not technically one page once you’ve cut it into four. You will need to staple or otherwise bind this booklet, but it does yield 14 easy to read and navigate pages if you’ve got a longer story to tell.

Examples include: Puzzle Mind, the story of how Stephen Sondheim brought cryptic crosswords to the US, and my deep dive into my beloved biscuit The great fig roll crisis

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If there’s anything you’d like me to break down in a future behind the scenes post let me know, in the meantime I’m going to continue to try out new zine formats to share in the future.

Write/draw again soon,

Natalie